Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to test sockets for integrated circuit boards, and more particularly, to a method and system for identifying the number of times a socket has been exposed to insertions using dedicated short range communication such as RFID or bar codes to track the insertions.
State of the Art
The constant insertion and removal of devices into a socket or probe card causes the sockets to wear out over time. Worn out or dirty sockets fail and result in lost yields. While users of the devices know approximately how many insertions a socket can take, there is currently no reliable way to keep track of these insertions.
It would therefore be advantageous for an integrated circuit manufacturer to know ahead of time when a socket or probe card will wear out based on counted socket insertions to enable cleaning or replacement, before product yields are affected.